For those who fear going crazy!

mallorygodisgood · Post by **mallorygodisgood** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:35 am

This article is GREAT!

One of the most common symptoms of anxiety disorder is the belief that you are going crazy. You have the sense that you are losing your grip on reality and that you are literally on the verge of a mental breakdown. Anxiety disorder can cause a deep seeded fear that sooner or later you’re simply going to go mad. However despite this overwhelming fear of possible insanity, the fact that you fear it and are aware of insanity as a state of being is precisely why you are not crazy.
Crazy means a lot things to a lot of people, however for the sake of clarity let’s say that for our purposes crazy means a mixture of insanity and psychosis . Let’s look at insanity first and how it is normally defined. In the United States insanity is no longer a medical term and in fact is mainly used in legal definitions. You have heard people say that someone is "legally insane" generally meaning that they cannot comprehend the meaning of "right" and "wrong". They simply don’t understand what it means to do something horrible, like killing another human being for example.
Under this definition of crazy or insane would you qualify as such a person? If you have an anxiety disorder the answer is no. You have your mental faculties in order and know exactly what right and wrong mean. You know the social norms of society and you follow them. In other words, you don’t walk around with your underwear on your head because you know that society views this as unacceptable behavior. The second and highest level of so called crazy is a mental state of delusion and abstraction known as psychosis.
In the past "insanity" was associated with conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. These conditions fall under the psychotic types of mental illness. These conditions are debilitating brain disorders that can seriously hinder ones life. When someone is psychotic they may hear voices or have hallucinations. In addition they might have a serious paranoia and a feeling that everyone is out to get them.
When someone is deemed psychotic they exhibit disorganized thinking and strange behaviors of various kind. Their very perception of reality is not what you would call normal. It is seriously distorted and disconnected from normal definitions of reality. Moreover one of the most critical aspects of psychosis that does not affect anxiety sufferers is a lack of insight.
Having a lack of insight is just another way of saying that you don’t know that you are behaving or acting strangely. As an anxiety sufferer you spend a lot of time thinking you’re crazy or on the verge of crazy but if this were true than you wouldn’t know it. You simply would not be aware of the fact that your thoughts and behavior were strange or "crazy".
When you have anxiety you are certainly filled with dread and worry. You experience psychosomatic sensations that make you feel terrible and frequent physical symptoms of all kinds. But the bottom line is that your level of mental fitness is not the same as someone that is psychotic or crazy - it’s much better. You have the ability to make sound decisions, you don’t hear or see things that aren’t there, and you know the difference between real and unreal. Even if you experience feelings of unreality or dream like states you are still aware of them as such.
Unfortunately if you were to ask someone tagged as crazy if they were actually crazy, they would probably say something like "crazy, who me?". They just wouldn’t know that they were in mental distress the same way that you would be able to know. As you can see you just don’t fit the profile of an insane or psychotic person. So the conclusion must be that you are not crazy. When you have anxiety disorder will you have tricks of vision? Yes. Will you have strange sensations and worry all the time? Yes. But despite this your condition is a completely different tier of mental ailment. You have an anxiety disorder and you will not graduate to a greater and more terrible mental state. You’re an excessive worrier racked with tremendous amounts of stress, but you are not crazy by any stretch of the imagination.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:51 am

Thanks. . .this is very helpful.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:03 pm

Great information. I keep telling myself the same things but it's always nice to hear it over an over (we always need reassurance from others right?). I once found a quote on the internet about anxiety disorders and the fear that people have about going crazy and it said "no matter how anxious you are, you won't get 'promoted' to schizophrenia"...I always remember that one.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:59 am

Thank you, this helps so much. I'm planning on printing this out and referring back to it often.

Have a great weekend, Lucie

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:11 am

Thank you for posting this - it is very helpful and a good reminder to those of us who worry about this.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:49 am

Thank you!!! I have always had this fear but it comes and goes so I really needed that today!!! I have had a bad ear infection which has raised my anxiety (not sure why) so it was good to hear that.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:03 am

Im glad you all enjoyed this, is was VERY beneficial to me! I read it often.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:32 am

My other fear is just that I would get "so bad" that I wouldn't be able to work or run my life any more. Whenever I learn to not be afraid of one thing (going crazy) my mind seems to think of something slightly different to worry about.

This week is going pretty good. . . I'm not feeling anxiety much, but I know that I'll have days like that again at some point. I guess the key is to learn to comfort myself through a bad day and not let it "freak me out" so much.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:10 pm

I am glad to hear you are doing better. Isnt it funny? A million people can tell us we arent losing it, why is it SO hard to believe? I heard a therapist put it like this once...I have to sit here sometimes and convince people that they actually are crazy, and then there are people like you, who I have to convince that you arent crazy. And that is SO true!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:57 am

yeah that sounds like my counselor; although he often suggests to me that I should try medication to help. I haven't had a good history with meds so I suppose I just need to learn to calm myself better.